Giles atheeton



(No Model.)

G. ATHERTON.

GOATING, PLATING, AND NAPPING HAT BODIES. N0. 389,131. Patented Sept.4,1888.

F/'G./. F/G-2.

WITNESSESA- N PEYERs, mmmmhngmpuw, wwungwn, p' G UNTTSESD STATES PATENTOFFICE.

GILES ATHERTON, F STOCKPORT, COUNTY OF CHESTER, ENGLAND.

COATING, PLATING, AND NAPPING HAT-BODIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,131, datedSeptember 4, 1888.

Application filodOctoherG,1887. Serial No. 251.591. (No model.) Patentedin Englandl September 14, 1887, No. 12,441.

To LZ whom, L' may concern.-

Be it known that I, GiLns ATHER'roN, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Stock port, county of Chester, England,have invented certain Improvements in Coating, Plating, and NappingHat-Bodies, (for which I have applied for a patent in Great Britain, No.12,441, dated Sep tember 14, 1887,) of which the followingr is aspecification.

My invention relates to an improved mode ofcoating and nappinghat-bodies of wool or of other materials, and has for its object to coatthe surface of such bodies with acovering of fur. YUnder presentpractice and in accordance with inventions for which I have obtainedpatents in Great Britain, numbered, respectively, 718 and 1,117 of theyear 1882, and in the United States, in conjunction with George Yule,No. 260,918, of 1882, heat and friction have been employed to effect thesticking of fur or fur bats to woolen or other hat-bodies, each bodybeing separately treated. I have now discovered that hat-bodies can becoated with a covering of fur by simple immersion in a bath of hotliquid containing fur, accompanied by agitation of the hot water orliquor in which the bodies are immersed or ofthe vessel containing theimmersed bodies. To complete the sticking process, I place the coatedhat-bodies removed from the immersing-vat in a closed vessel or drum,which is reciprocated or revolved, so that the contained hatbodies comeinto frictional contact with each other and complete the sticking andnapping process. When subjected to the completing process, the bodiesare not immersed, but merely kept moist and hot. The fur coating, causedto adhere in this manner,enters into intimate union with thehat-bodies--or, in other words, becomes felted thereonso that the bodiescan be sheared, pounced, and otherwise finished in the ordinary manner.In the first bath I may add gelatine to the hot water to assist thesticking process; but the most economimical method of sizing the hotcoating-bath is to place portions of the pelt or skin of the animal inthe bath, which pelt becomes dissolved therein and answers the purposeof the more expensive gelatine, while permitting the use of wastematerial not hitherto made use of in the manufacture of hats.

It will be evident from the simplicity of the process that apparatus ofthe most primitive description might be used in carrying my inventioninto effect. I have, however, annexed a sheet of drawings to render thedescription more clear.

Figure 1 is a cross-section of a coatingbath. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectionshowing a mechanical agitator. Fig. 3 is a section ot' a coating-bath,wherein the hat-bodies are separately held and moved to and fro in thewater. Fig. 3 shows a modified method of heating the bath. Fig, 4 is aside View of a coating-bath in the form of a revolving drum. Fig. 5 is alongitudinal section of a suitable apparatus for completing the coatingand napping process.

In making use of the bath shown at Fig. 14 the vat (a is filled withwater, which is acidulated, as is usual when sticking naps. The water isheated by a steam-pipe, I), and boiling-nozzle c, the pipe b beingfitted with a valve, d, for governing the supply ofsteam and thetemperature of the water in the bath (t. The fur is now thrown into thevat a, and waste fur, having portions of pelt sticking to it, whichcould not bc used under the ordinary treatment, may also be thrown in,as the hot waterseparatcs the fur from the pelt, while the pelt ismelted and gives the necessary gelatinous clement to the water,sufficient pelt boing thrown in to produce the desired effect. I nowthrow in the woolen or other felt hatbodies, (represented by the conicalobjects seen floating in the Water in the vat, Fig. 1,) and stir them upin the vat by means of a pole or allow them to be agitated by theebullit-ion of the boiling water until the surfaces of the hatbodieshave become coated with the fur held in suspension in the water. Thethickness of the fur-coating varies with the length of time which thehat-bodies are allowed to remain in the bath.

Fig. 2 represents a bath which is in all respects the same as thatdescribed with reference to Fig. 1, similar reference-letters beingplaced on the similar parts. The additional feature in Fig. 2 is themechanical agitator c, suspended from a vibrating shaft,f, which isvibrated by means of the lever g and rod It from any suitablereciprocating or revolving part. The agitator e sweeps to and fro acrossIOO the bath and stirs up the fur and hat-bodies, so as to promoteintimate contact and adhesion of the fur to the bodies.

Another form of sticking-bath is shown at Fig. 3, wherein a series ofclips or tongs, i, of which there may be any suitable number, aremounted upon a shaft,j, which is caused to vibrate to and fro by meansof the lever 7c and rod Z,driven from the crank-disk m. Each pair oftongs i, the jaws of which may be held together by a spring or bridle,is caused to hold a hatbody, n, and agitate it to and fro in the hotwater and fur in the vat a. The vat is mounted upon frames or standardso, and may be heated by a steam-pipe and perforated boiling-nozzle, asinFigs. l and 2. In its main features the apparatus shown at Fig. 3 isnearly similar to the apparatus for agitating hat-bodies in waterdescribed in my aforesaid British speciication, No. 1,117 of 1882, andillustrated on Sheet 1 ot' the drawings attached to that specification.rIhe arrangement therein described i'or opening and closing the jaws ofall ofthe tongs z' simultaneously may, if desired, be employed incarrying out my present invention.

In cases where it is thought undesirable to admit steam directly intothe vat I might blow the steam into a chamber surrounding thesticking'bath, and Fig. 3 illustrates such an arrangement. The uppervat, A, is surrounded by an outer casing, B, a space being left between,into which I blow steam through volving copper cylinder, p, carried inbearings on the standards q, and driven from the fast and loose pulleysr r. The bearing at the driving end is hollow, and I make a packedconnection with a Steampipe, s, so as to convey steam into the interiorot' the cylinder p or into a surrounding heating-chamber similar to thatshown at Fie. The aeidulated was ter, hat-bodies, and t'ur are placed inthe drum p through the opening closed by the door t, a relief-valve, u,being provided. Theagitation consequent upon the revolution of the drumfacilitates the coating of the hat-bodies with fur. The direction ofrevolution of the drum p might from time to time be reversed, or, i11-stead of being rotated, the drum might be reciprocated.

All of the foregoing arrangements refer to the first bath, in which thesticking of the fur to the bodies is effected. The finishing operationmay be effected in any vessel which can be so agitated as to causei'rietional contact between the several hat-bodies which have beencoated with fur in the manner just de scribed. Fig. 5 shows an agitatingapparatus similar in construction to a churn, and which could be used toproduce the desired effect. rlhe drum c is mounted eccentrically upon ashaft, w, which is carried in bearings on standards x, and driven fromfast and loose pulleys rlhe heating of the sticking-vatv g/ and y. Thecoated hat-bodies are placed in the vessel through 'the opening closedby the door z. In this apparatus the goods are not immersed in water;but the mass ot hat-bodies is kept moist and hot, sufticient hot waterbe ing poured over them to keep them in this condition. When the drum cis rotated, the contained hat-bodies are rolled about in frictionalcontact with each other, so as to complete the coating and nappingprocess and ren der them fit for further treatment. To assist inincreasing the movement among the hatbodies, the interior of the drum 'uis fitted with ledges'or beaters di. The rubbing action has also theeffect of removing the acid with which the bodies have been impregnatedin the foregoing bath or baths.

I claim as my invention- Y l. The mode herein described of coatingwoolen or other bodies, said mode consisting in immersing the saidbodies in a bath of hot liquid containing fur in suspension andagitating the liquid and thereby causing the fur to felt onto the saidbodies and to form a nap thereon.

2. The mode herein described of coating woolen or other bodies, saidmode consisting' in immersing the said bodies in a bath of hot liquidcontaining fur in suspension and agitating them in the bath in intimateunion with the fur and thereby causing the latter to form a nap thereon.

3. The mode herein described of coating woolen and other bodies, saidmode consisting in im rnersing the said bodies in abath of acidulatedhotwater containing fur in suspension and'agitating the liquid andthereby causing the i'ur to form a nap on the bodies.

4. The mode herein described of coating Woolen and other bodies, saidmode consisting in immersing them iu a bath of hot watercoutaininggelatinous material and fur in suspension and agitating the liquid, sothat the fur and gelatinous material are brought into intimate contactwith said bodies.

5. The mode herein described of coating woolen and other bodies, saidmode consisting in placing fur and pieces of pelt in a bath of hotwater, immersing the bodies in this bath, and agitating the liquid, sothat the fur will come into intimate contact with the said bodies.

6. The mode herein described of coating woolen and other bodies, saidmode consisting in immersing the bodies in a bath of hot liquidcontaining fur, agitating the liquid to bring the fur into intimatecontact with the said bodies, then removing thelatter from the bath, andrubbing the coated bodies together in intimate frictional contact.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GILES ATHERTON.

Witnesses:

D. FULTON, D. TIMPERLEY.

lOO

